Clockwork
by SilverGinkgo
Summary: New York city is a city of hate and the corrupt, though it seems that all just turn a blind eye to the suffering... all except a minute few known as the Watchmen, particularly Rorschach, who happens upon a young woman in need of saving one dismal night...
1. The City that Never Sleeps

**_Authors note:_** Yes this is a watchmen fanfiction, I couldn't help myself...I loved the novel and I loved the movie...and is case you were wondering this is a Rorschach (Walter Kovacs)XOC fic...anyways

Enjoy!

* * *

_This city…_

_This city is vile…_

_Where scum breed and thrive…_

_Where the corrupt go unpunished and the few decent humans left in this putrid world suffer…_

_…No more…_

_No longer will the vile cretins go unpunished…_

_No longer will their crimes be ignored…_

_They will know fear…_

_And it will be at my hands…_

* * *

The city streets were grey and dismal as they always were and the usual unwelcome shadows of the coming evening paraded across the buildings and concrete; the air was thick with smog and pollution from the thousands of automobiles that drove down the cracked, pothole filled streets day in and day out.

No one seemed to care anymore… not everyday people, not lawyers or politicians; it seemed as though they'd rather see the city rot and drown in its own filth.

A city commuter bus rumbled down one of the cities many narrow side streets, spewing thick black exhaust into the already poisoned air.

Like most of the other patrons on the city owned vehicle a young woman sat on one of the grimy, hard plastic seats, eyes focused blankly at her lap, listening to the sickly hum of the vehicle. The bus slowly screeched to a halt and she heard the doors slide open with a squeaky groan; her stop. The woman stood form her seat and gripped the cool metal pole that stood next to her to steady herself before moving forwards, pushing past the other commuters on their ways home from their dead end jobs.

Stumbling slightly down the buses worn steps she regained her composure quickly once on the cracked concrete sidewalk. Brushing a strand of soft brown hair behind her ear she loosely gripped her metal walking cane and began to walk, the metal rod grazing the grimy concrete lightly as it was moved side to side. She counted her steps as she did every day on her solemn trips to and from the bus stop five blocks from her drab apartment complex.

She could hear the bustle of city life, it was a city that never slept and she doubted it ever would, not these days especially…she heard the yelling of an angry couple most likely from an apartment not to far off, the barking of a stray dog, sirens, car horns, fragments of sentences…just another evening.

She felt the walking cane hit the lip of the curb to the first narrow ally way on her way home, the count same as always and she continued to walk.

She reached the second and third ally ways without much change from her daily routine, catching a few uneventful, unimportant fragmented sentences by a few passerby's, nothing un usual or out of the ordinary, she just simply went about her business and ignored it.

Pausing for a moment when she heard a metal clang as her cane hit an object she quickly resumed walking when she recognized the sound as discarded beer or soda can. She reached the forth ally, only one more until she was home, she heard some shuffling ahead of her but ignored it stepping onto the curb of the fourth block. Continuing to walk forward the shuffling became more prominent and she heard the sound of multiple footsteps, still she ignored it, until the butt of her cane hit something; almost immediately she could tell it was human.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you there." she said simply retracting her cane and stepping slightly to the left attempting to go around the human obstacle only to collide with another. "Excuse me…" she said becoming slightly apprehensive at the sudden presence.

"Excuse me." the second figure drawled, the voice was dark, smug.

"I sorry sir, I didn't see you." she responded again her voice smooth, hoping that the man before her would go on his way and she would soon be in the comfort of her home.

"A pretty little thing such as yourself shouldn't be wandering the streets all alone at night…" a voice came from the right of her, probably the first man she had crossed paths with.

"Thank you sir, I will remember that from now on…" she replied trying to remain calm.

She heard a dark chuckle from behind her and she froze, a third…another now behind her.

"You would be wise to remember that, especially after we get through with you…" the man to her right drawled snidely, it sound though he was smiling, a malicious smile that drew from ear to ear.

"No…please don't." she said barely above a whisper, it was all she could muster as she felt one of the men push her forcefully backwards into the man standing behind her who then grasped her shoulders roughly in his hands. "No! Stop, please!" she cried out again managing to find her voice and shouting out into the darkening metropolis; though it was in vain.

No one heeded her cry for help, bystanders simply went about their ways as if nothing was out of the ordinary as the young woman was dragged kicking and thrashing about into the abyss of the open ally way.

"Please I'll hurry home, I-I won't tell the police, just let me go…" she pleaded with her captors, desperate.

She heard the men laugh cruelly and she knew her pleas fell upon deaf ears, and all signs of hope began to drown beneath her fears. "…Please…" she whispered one last time.

"Sorry toots, but you leave us no choice…" one of the men stated nonchalantly, a lie; she felt one of them grab onto her walking cane roughly before tearing it out of her hand and pushing her further into the ally.

She heard the sound of clanging metal and she knew the men had tossed her cane away…what did it matter anymore…

Another hard shove and she fell to the grimy, wet pavement, scraping the palm of her right hand and bruising her hip, she could fell the dampness of pavement begin to soak the now dirtied fabric of her soft skirt.

A hand suddenly grasped a fistful of her hair, tearing at it, her scalp screamed in agony before her head was thrust down into the rough pavement, bashing her head into the scarred earth and her vision began to swim.

"…_I want to die…"_ she thought for a brief moment, _"Just let me die…"_ she heard the men chuckle again and she closed her eyes.

"This will only hurt a little…" one of them cooed in a vile tone, another lie.

She clenched her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut even tighter as she felt the cool and unwelcome presence of a blade grazing over the soft flesh just above the curve of her knee and she felt hot tears begin to stream down her bloody, dirty face.

Then the cool presence of the blade suddenly withdrew and she heard a scuffling facing the mouth of the ally way.

"What the fuck!" she heard on of the men curse and then a sickening crack and then a scream.

More scuffling and she heard a loud thud, a body hitting a dumpster and a strangled cry.

"Holy fuck!" she heard another one of the men cry out in terror followed by two loud stomach churning snaps…then al was quiet, apart from the city life that went about as usual.

Despite the fact that the three men were no longer harassing her, the small young woman lay still on the cold hard pavement, her breath coming in short wavering gasps, tears, dirt and drying blood caking her face; she was to scared to move, to scared to get up.

"_Not dead. Get up."_ a raspy; monotone voice suddenly shattered her world of silence.

Though all she did was whimper and cower more, drawing her knees up to her chest and she heard an annoyed grunt.

"_Not going to hurt you, get up!"_ the voice commanded again.

Thoughts were whirling through her injured head, _who was this person? Can I trust him? What happened to the men? Am I dead?_

"_Get up!" _this time threatening.

She whimpered again but complied, rising shakily to her feet, looking lost, confused and above all frightened.

_Stranger's POV:_

_As I gazed at the pitiful sight before me I could help but think of a deer in the headlights of a semi-truck about to be a bloody splatter on the highway. She was another victim of the putrid scum this city was spewing out everyday like fucking rabbits…_

_She just stood there in shambles…probably to scared of me to move._

"_Are you still there…?" her soft wavering voice took me off guard slightly._

"_Yes," I replied gruffly and she fell silent once more._

_I took a step forward, no sound from the heel of my shoe, she didn't move, another step, still nothing. I kept walking until I stood before her; curiosity had gotten the better of me. I watched as she gazed about her self in confusion, not focusing on anything in particular, seeming to ignore my presence completely, it annoyed me._

"_Look at me." I told her roughly and she froze for a moment before bringing her eyes up to face me blankly, almost as if I wasn't there._

_I started at her for a moment before raising my right arm up, though she continued to stare at my masked face blankly, not once glancing over to my raised appendage. I began to pivot my arm back and forth slowly in front of her slowly, but still no response, she just continued to stare at me with that lifeless stare, I knew then..._

…_She was blind… _


	2. Hello Darkness My Old Friend

**_Authors note: _**the second installment is finally here, thank you to all that have reviewed and given me such helpful advice to make this story better. This chapter is kind of slow with not much action, but I hope you enjoy it just the same!

Enjoy!

* * *

_…She was blind…_

He didn't have time for this, to take care of a woman who could hardly take care of herself; she hadn't even fought back…

Briskly he turned on his heel and began to walk towards the mouth of the dingy ally way, towards the unpleasant hustle and bustle of the city life; most likely alive now with the filthy whores and crime lords continuing to go unpunished.

"Wait!" he heard the woman say but didn't stop…she was just another face in the crowd, just another grimy, dingy face that had been unrightfully punished by corrupted society, he had done his part, she wasn't anything, not worth his time. She called out again; he ignored her again and rounded the corner, already pushing her from his mind.

* * *

The young woman stood silently for a moment, drowning in her thoughts, replaying what had just happened like an old movie reel in her mind. Finally she surfaced from her muddled thoughts…he had left her…he had saved her and left her…At first she didn't know what to feel, all her emotions began to pool in a muddied puddle; finally the fear and confusion had worn off and became replaced by anger, anger for the stranger, anger for herself.

"…Shit…" she cursed continuing to stand in the ally like a stray dog. "…Shit, shit, shit, shit!" she cried out into the alive yet dreary night sky.

Extremely distraught at the recent events, she fumed, angry with the man who had saved her and his lack of decency; true he had rescued her, but the least he could do before he decided to saunter off into the night life was give her back her walking cane.

Stumbling forward angrily she thrust her arms out in front of herself in a crude attempt to avoid running into any unseen obstacles. She could feel fresh tears beginning to stream down her dirty face; not tears of fear or horror but hot angry tears. She rubbed them from her already swollen eyes in irritation with her hand that hadn't been injured, before placing it back out in front of her.

Her frustration towards her brash savior soon turned in on herself, she was the reason that this all had occurred…She wasn't strong enough, she couldn't even defend herself, a complete stranger had to do it for her.

"Damn it…" she said under her breath as she continued to stumble blindly forwards.

Suddenly she heard a clang and her foot hit something hard, she hit it again, the sound of metal scraping unpleasantly against pavement. She crouched down, padding the ground before her with the palms of her hands; she felt the kiss of cool metal against her fingertips and she grasped the object tightly as if attempting to strangle it with her small frail hand. Perhaps it was envisioned as the neck of her savior, through she knew she should be grateful.

She stood up again, wearily shifting the metal rod in her hands until she came to grasp the worn rubber grip. Sighing she tried to come to grips with her emotions, knowing that it would be wise to get out of the gloomy place she was currently standing in and make it home as soon as possible. Rubbing her eyes once more she began to trudge home, her cane swinging side to side, hand against the shabby brick wall of the ally; counting her steps didn't matter having no idea how long the ally was and never having ventured into it before. Finally she felt the corner of the wall and she knew that she had escaped, hand leaving the brick she used her cane to find the lip of the sidewalk. Once found, she began to walk, counting her steps, now listening more intently to the world around her, tensing slightly at the sound of footsteps every time they seemed to draw near.

Finally she made it to her doorstep and pulled her keys out of her small handbag that had since gotten a hole in it after her recent scuffle in the ally; sighing once more she unlocked the door and stepped inside careful to lock it behind her, checking it twice just to be sure.

Beginning to ascend the rundown staircase that led to her quaint yet homey place of solitude she wondered as she did every night if her land-lord would ever decide to fix the old staircase which creaked at every step and sloped slightly to the right. Though she concluded that he would probably only do it when one of his tenants fell through it, or off it, or the staircase itself collapsed completely. In which case he would most likely give them a rope and tell them to learn how to go rock climbing or cave spelunking.

Ascending the last flight of steps she heard the couple in the room below her beginning to argue as they did every night, she simply ignored it and continued on until she stood in front of her door. Once again retrieving her keys form their holding place she unlocked the door and stepped inside, quickly shutting the door and locking it again; she only had one lock and she had often considered getting a second, just in case…after tonight maybe she would.

Groaning lightly she dropped her keys onto the door side table and made her way into the small kitchen that doubled as the living/dining room. She set her cane against the couch, she didn't need it here, she knew the place inside out it was her home and though it wasn't anything luxurious or high end, she had come to love it.

Grabbing the tea kettle that rested on the stove top as always she filled it with the almost brackish water that came from her faucet and put it on to boil, then walked tiredly over to the pale orange couch that lay against the wall next to the door and sat down. Relaxing slightly as she sat she began to drift off into deep thought again.

_"Maybe…maybe I should have taken up Chelsea's offer…"_ she thought remembering the offer her old roommate from college had made, about renting an apartment together after college. _"Maybe, I'm just not cut out for living in this world alone…Why did I have to be so stubborn?"_ remembering how she had told her friend she could take care of herself without any trouble whatsoever. _"Can I really take care of myself?...No, I can't rely on people my whole life, I have to do things on my own." _She told herself. _"If I have to_, _I'll just beat somebody over the head with my cane, it's fairly hard…it is made of metal…" _she chuckled to herself at the thought but found herself seriously considering it in the future if she ran into anymore trouble.

She was suddenly brought from her thoughts by the grating screech of the tea kettle that she had completely forgot she had put on, standing in a hurry she nearly ran into the coffee table before reaching the stove and turning it off. Grabbing a mug and a teabag she poured the searing water into cup and set the teabag to steep,

After a few moments she removed the bag and tossed it away and took a sip of the tea, careful not to burn herself on the scalding liquid; chamomile tea…She never got the same tea, refusing to until she tried every one that small grocery store that she shopped at had…it was something that she had partaken in since her childhood, one of the few things she had managed hold onto, after that night…that night sixteen years ago…

She shook the thoughts from her head, no use in dwelling on the past. Finishing her tea she got ready for bed, brushing her teeth, showering, scrubbing twice as hard to get the filth off of her bruised flesh, brushed her hair and finally changing into her pajama's and slipping into bed.

* * *

Rising early as she always did in the morning she quickly went about her business, eating a toasted bagel half with jam for breakfast, brushing her teeth and hair before dressing for work, double checking her system of labeling articles of clothing to make sure they would go well together. Teal…that's what she was wearing…the teal sweater dress that she so adored….teal it had been her favourite colour, she still remembered colours, she was glad for that. After putting on her long black leggings and matching high heels she grabbed her name tag off her old wooden dresser and carefully pinned it to her chest. She ran her fingertips over the indented letters JULIET…she had never been fond of her name, but her mother had loved it, she had been a fan of Shakespeare.

Grabbing her cane by the couch she proceeded on her way to work as usual with her usual routine of lock the door, descend the stairs, and enjoy the peace that settled every morning on account the neighbors were asleep.

* * *

He wasn't exactly sure why he had decided to put his mask on today in this particular part of town and parade around it with his sign, he just had a feeling…a strange feeling and it was annoying him.

Walking down the side walk passerby's ignored him, most likely assuming he was just another homeless person prowling these vile streets in search of a little extra pocket change…probably to spend it on booze to make the day a little more bearable. Though he had a purpose and it certainly wasn't going out and getting drunk.

* * *

Remembering to lock after exiting the building she turned on her heel in a hurry, took three steps and ran into somebody.

"I'm sorry…" she said softly gripping her cane tightly remembering about what she had thought about the night before.

"Rushed." the voice stated gruffly more than questioning.

She was about to reply when she caught a whiff of the persons personal hygiene, it was fair to say that it was unpleasant to say the least…but though she was sure she had never met this character before, the smell was somewhat familiar.

"Just on my way to work…" she replied, not wishing to stay in the man's presence longer than she had to.

"Early in the morning." he stated again, and she wrinkled her nose slightly, not because of the smell, rather because who ever this was he was a strange man indeed.

"I like to walk through the park…" she said curtly, wishing to be on her way.

"Prowlers out. City scum."

"I'll be careful…" though she doubted this man really cared what happened to her, he was most likely just some lonely homeless man…but she did recognize his smell and his voice was becoming more and more familiar though she couldn't seem to place her finger on it and it was beginning to bother her.

"Be going. Have a nice walk…" the man suddenly said and she could hear his footsteps begin to fade in the opposite direction she was going.

Where had she heard that voice…and smelled that smell, where? Then it came back to her, like rewinding a film reel and playing it back in ones head. Last night, that voice…that smell, it was him, the one who saved her! She spun around and shouted out to him, buy received no answer in return. Perhaps he was ignoring her again, she huffed.

"Asshole…" she muttered under her breath before she began walking again. Though she wasn't quite sure that this would be the last of the strange man she had come in to contact with twice already...in fact she was quite sure they would meet again on one of there strange trips and she wasn't quite sure she wanted to either…


	3. Hard Day's Night

**Authors note:** Sorry it took so long to update this, we just got done with our school play and that took up most of my time, anyways here is another chapter, sorry this one is kind of slow and mostly about Juliet, please bare with me, there will be some action coming up!

Enjoy!

* * *

"Not a whore…" Rorschach concluded as he watched the young woman with the name tag Juliet walk off in a huff. _"Gave a funny look."_ He thought continuing to watch her retreating form.

He wasn't quite sure why she invaded his thoughts in such a way that forced him to actually notice her presence; seldom did any being do so…and never a woman. It annoyed him somewhat, knowing not what he saw in this woman. _"Different…" _he thought. _Of course she was different she was blind…_Perhaps he should place brail on his sign, which at the moment rested against his shoulder in a lackadaisical fashion. This perturbed him even further and he adjusted his sign and began to trudge off. What did it really matter? She was, inside, just like everyone else in the world…naïve, stupid, out of touch; in truth everyone was just as blind as she was to the world and its animosity. He pushed her from his thoughts cursing at himself and his sudden flicker of weakness, he would not let it happen again, he couldn't.

Growling softly to himself he rounded the corner, the woman now pushed from his mind, he would go about his day as usual, which most would call skulking around the city streets like a stay dog.

_Perhaps he was as a stray dog was; alone…no real place to call home…no one to come home to…no, he wasn't a stray dog. He had a purpose, to rid the vile world of the scum that spewed out from the underbelly of the cities and their ever-growing rat holes. He was not a stray dog, he lived for something, to find the source of all human crime and corruption and rip out its heart…_

_

* * *

_

Her walk through the park had remained undisturbed, and she had gotten to enjoy the sounds of the early morning; the birds chirping, the crickets who had not yet decided to call it a night. And although the sound of city life was never ending all the hustle and bustle, the sounds of cars and people seemed to be somewhat muted in the wake of the early morning.

Though as she arrived at her destination the commotion quickly picked up and the somewhat serene start to the day quickly was shattered, with the sounds of the city day just beginning to heat up, Juliet sighed and opened the glass door to her work place.

"Good morning Juliet!" the young woman recognized the chipper voice that belonged to her friend and colleague Lillian.

"Morning…" she replied in a lackluster fashion that she was sure that her associate would notice.

"Bad start to the day?" the younger woman asked as she watched Juliet thumb through the work cards so that she could punch-in.

"Not particularly…" finding her card, quickly punching in, and placing it back in its holding area.

Lillian still marveled at the fact that the woman before her could live such a normal life without the aid of her eyesight; she did things as everyone else did, without even batting an eyelash. She remember when she first came to work for the firm that she had never taken any notice to the woman's condition until she had overheard someone at the office mention it. She also remembered how when she had attempted to aid her she was quickly turned down and told that she was just like everyone else and needed no sort of special attention.

"At least the day is supposed to be nice, no rain in the forecast." Lillian continued as Juliet grabbed her cane, which she had placed against the cool concrete wall and turned on her heel to face the young blond who stood in the doorway.

"I suppose so…it would be nicer though if we could enjoy it and not be stuffed up inside all day." she replied.

"That true." she could hear the smile in the young woman voice and she wondered how she could always stay so content in a world such as this; and at times she wished she had her optimism.

"We should get to work." Juliet said knowing that the phone wouldn't be answered and the paperwork wouldn't get done by itself.

Lillian nodded in response though the brunette couldn't see the indication of acknowledgement.

* * *

Juliet worked in a small business that worked with a larger business, which in turn was owned by none other that Adrian Veidt the smartest man in the world and his world-renowned corporation. She was a receptionist and although her job only required her to take calls and push papers on occasion, it was also incredibly boring and the thought of quitting often flitted through her mind during the work hours. Though, then again, good jobs were hard to come by these days, no matter it you had a college degree or dropped out of high school before receiving your diploma. So the outcome was always the same, stay at her job…after all the pay was fairly decent and it allowed her to pay the rent and live a somewhat modest life, though she was by no means one who could spare the money to buy anything extra or extravagant.

She had managed to make it through the first half of the day without to much trouble apart from an extremely distraught client that had kept her on the phone for nearly an hour complaining about how the stocks that he had invested in were not earning him any money and were in fact losing money. When she had told him she was not the person he need to talk to and she would put him in touch with someone who could help him, he had told her he refused to be hand off to anther person, claiming that she was blowing him off. However, finally, in the end she managed to convince him that she couldn't aid him in the way needed and was able to finally transfer his call to another person.

She sat at the small table in the conference with Lillian as she ate her cheese sandwich that she had brought for lunch and told her about her day.

"I need to get out of here Lillian…" she said with a frustrated sigh.

"What? Why?" the younger woman asked in surprise.

"I didn't go to college for six years just to be working at some dead end job." She replied and fidgeted with the handle of her cane.

"Well, what did you have in mind?"

"My major in college was history…"

"Oh." Lillian sounded less than enthused, remembering history class in the fifth grade to be quite boring.

"It's not as dull as it may sound." Juliet replied with a soft smile and went back to her somewhat less than satisfying lunch.

She had been kept late that evening, leaving the building nearly an hour and a half later than she usually did. The hands of night beginning to grip the city as the sunset beneath the towering buildings, lights beginning to flicker to life as if being awaked from a slumber.

Sighing she rubbed her arms with her hands, feeling gooseflesh already beginning to speckle her skin from the cool night air. Then she gripped her cane in her hand loosely and began to walk towards the bus stop, not particularly comfortable walking through the park at this time of night, when the rats seemed to emerge form their hiding places.

* * *

She made it safely home without too much trouble; apart from the fight, she heard occurring in one of the ally ways, which she hastily walked by not wishing to repeat any current events.

Sighing she made herself a quick cup of tea and decided to turn on the weather, and find out what the next week would look like. Much to her dismay within the first five minutes, the forecast predicted that there would be nothing but rain for the next week and she quickly shut the TV off, finished her tea, and decided to get ready for bed.

Snuggling beneath the soft covers of her bed, she began to drift off into thought; nothing truly deep nor anything philosophical, just a recollection of what had occurred the past few days. Finally these thoughts brought her to the strange man who had a saved her life the night before, which she was eternally grateful for, but who was also a complete jackass. She wondered who he was, and why he would waste his time to save the life of a strange that meant nothing to him, people in this city just did not do that…she had long thought any act of heroism had died off.

As she continued to lie in bed and stare blankly into the darkness that enveloped her, she remembered talk around the office of a vigilante that prowled the streets at night and dealt with city scum, she heard mention of him on the news as well …Rorschach…that was his name.

She wondered if the man who had saved her had been the masked vigilante that everyone claimed to be extremely dangerous as well as wanted for his unlawful actions. She shuddered slightly at the thought, if the man who had saved her really was this Rorschach character… she shook the thought from her head, what did it matter? She would most likely never meet up with him again.

However, as she began to fall into a troubled slumber, she had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that she would meet the masked man again…and she didn't welcome it.


End file.
